J.P. MORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT INTRODUCES NEW PRIVATE MARKETS FUND TO CANADA

Partnership with iCapital provides expanded access to private markets offerings to Canadian accredited investors

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2024 /CNW/ - J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM)*, a leading global asset manager with US$240 billion¹ in alternative assets under management ("AUM") globally, announced today that it is introducing access to the J.P. Morgan Private Markets Strategy ("Strategy") for Canadian accredited investors through a partnership with iCapital Network Canada Ltd. ("iCapital Canada", together with its affiliates, "iCapital"). This offering is the first J.P. Morgan strategy available to Canadian advisors in the market. It will allow Canadian accredited investors to gain access to the Strategy through the iCapital PEG Evergreen Private Equity CAD Fund. The iCapital - PEG Evergreen Private Equity CAD Fund (the "Fund"), which invests in JPMorgan Private Markets Fund ("JPMF"), a non-diversified, closed-end investment management company registered under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, and will be managed by iCapital Canada, a Canadian investment manager and an affiliate of the iCapital group of companies ("iCapital"), the global fintech platform driving access to alternative investments for the wealth management industry.

JPMF's investment objective is to seek to provide long-term capital appreciation. In pursuing JPMF's investment objective, JPMF invests primarily in an actively managed portfolio of private equity investments and other private assets. The strategy provides investors with access to the JPMAM Private Equity Group's ("PEG") decades of investment experience, including a senior team that has worked together for 24 years. PEG manages US$31 billion in AUM² globally. JPMF combines JPMAM's deep private market expertise with a long and robust track record managing mutual funds, separately managed accounts and exchange-traded funds for financial advisors.

"The introduction of the J.P. Morgan Private Markets Strategy through our partnership with iCapital Canada is an important advancement of our private markets strategy in Canada," said Travis Hughes, Head of Canada, JPMAM. "J.P. Morgan Asset Management is committed to democratizing access to alternatives for private wealth investors. We are seeing significant demand to go beyond the public markets and introduce alternative investments to the portfolios of accredited investors in Canada. Our partnership with iCapital Canada is intended to streamline access to private market investing opportunities for advisors and their clients across the country."

Ashmi Mehrotra, Portfolio Manager for JPMF, said, "Using our thorough due diligence process, we identify top-performing small and mid-market managers. Small and mid-market buyouts make up a large part of the overall private equity market, with lower average entry prices and leverage multiples, as well as clear value creation opportunities. We believe these dynamics may result in enhanced returns for long-term investors who are equipped to capitalize on the potential outperformance that small and middle-market buyouts offer."

The partnership in Canada builds on a longstanding collaboration between JPMAM and iCapital, a global fintech platform driving the world's alternative investment marketplace for the wealth management industry. J.P. Morgan became a strategic investor in iCapital in 2018 and the two companies have leveraged their partnership to expand access to private wealth opportunities in several regions over the last five years, including in the Asia-Pacific region earlier in 2024.

For more information about the Fund, visit the iCapital portal.

For more information about the underlying strategy of JPMF, click here.

For insights and background on private equity investing, click here.

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management

J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives is the alternative investment arm of JPMAM. With more than 60 years as an alternatives investment manager, US$240 billion in assets under management and more than 800 professionals (as of March 31, 2023), J.P. Morgan offers strategies across the alternative investment spectrum including real estate, private equity, private credit, hedge funds, infrastructure, transportation, timber and liquid alternatives. Operating from offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, our independent alternative investment engines combine specialist knowledge and singular focus with the global reach, vast resources and powerful infrastructure of J.P. Morgan to help meet each client's specific objectives.

JPMAM, with assets under management of US$3.3 trillion (as of June 30, 2024), is a global leader in investment management. JPMAM's clients include institutions, retail investors and high net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. JPMAM offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. For more information, please visit: www.jpmorganassetmanagement.com. J.P. Morgan Asset Management is the marketing name for the asset management businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and its affiliates worldwide.

Disclaimers

FOR MEDIA OUTLETS USE ONLY, NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION.

	* Legal entity in Canada: JPMorgan Asset Management (Canada) Inc.
	^1 J.P. Morgan Asset Management, as of March 31, 2024. AUM figures are representative of assets managed by the J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives group, and include some AUM managed by other J.P. Morgan Asset Management investment teams.
	^2 J.P. Morgan PEG Analysis, PEG AUM as of December 31, 2023.

JPM partial ownership of iCapital

The sponsor, general partner, investment manager (or equivalent) of the JPMorgan Private Markets Strategy and/or its affiliates (the "Sponsor") owns a minority share of the outstanding equity securities of Institutional Capital Network, Inc. ("iCapital Parent"), a Delaware corporation, which wholly owns iCapital Network Canada Ltd. (the "Manager"). The Sponsor also holds a board of directors' position and a board observer position with iCapital, Inc. The Manager may face conflicts of interest due to the existence of such ownership by Sponsor in its parent company, which conflicts may include, but are not limited to: (i) the creation of a potential incentive for iCapital Parent to favour the interests of the Sponsor over the interests of investors of the Fund in the event such interests conflict, or; (ii) that iCapital Parent may be more favourably disposed toward establishing access funds to invest in funds managed or advised by Sponsor affiliated entities in lieu of funds managed or advised by other fund managers, and the existing relationship could increase the likelihood of such access fund arrangements to be agreed to or approved by Sponsor and iCapital Parent.

Risks of Private Equity Strategies: The Strategy will include exposure to private companies for which operating results in a specified period will be difficult to predict. Such investments involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses. Private Equity Investment Risks. Private equity transactions may result in new enterprises that are subject to extreme volatility, require time for maturity and may require additional capital. In addition, they frequently rely on borrowing significant amounts of capital, which can increase profit potential but at the same time increase the risk of loss. Leveraged companies may be subject to restrictive financial and operating covenants. The leverage may impair the ability of these companies to finance their future operations and capital needs. Also, their flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions and to business opportunities may be limited. A leveraged company's income and net assets will tend to increase or decrease at a greater rate than if borrowed money was not used. Although these investments may offer the opportunity for significant gains, such buyout and growth investments involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses, which risks generally are greater than the risks of investing in public companies that may not be as leveraged. Venture Capital Risks. Venture capital investments are in private companies that have limited operating history, are attempting to develop or commercialize unproven technologies or to implement novel business plans or are not otherwise developed sufficiently to be self-sustaining financially or to become public. Although these investments may offer the opportunity for significant gains, such investments involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses, which risks generally are greater than the risks of investing in public or private companies that may be at a later stage of development.

Risks Associated with Private Company Investments: Private companies are generally not subject to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements, are not required to maintain their accounting records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and are not required to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting. As a result, the adviser of the JPMF may not have timely or accurate information about the business, financial condition and results of operations of the private companies in which JPMF invests. There is risk that JPMF may invest on the basis of incomplete or inaccurate information, which may adversely affect JPMF's investment performance. Private companies in which JPMF may invest have limited financial resources, shorter operating histories, more asset concentration risk, narrower product lines and smaller market shares than larger businesses, which tend to render such private companies more vulnerable to competitors' actions and market conditions, as well as general economic downturns. These companies generally have less predictable operating results, may from time to time be parties to litigation, may be engaged in rapidly changing businesses with products subject to a substantial risk of obsolescence, and may require substantial additional capital to support their operations, finance expansion or maintain their competitive position. These companies may have difficulty accessing the capital markets to meet future capital needs, which may limit their ability to grow or to repay their outstanding indebtedness upon maturity. Typically, investments in private companies are in restricted securities that are not traded in public markets and subject to substantial holding periods, so that JPMF may not be able to resell some of its holdings for extended periods, which may be several years. There can be no assurance that JPMF or the Strategy will be able to realize the value of private company investments in a timely manner.

JPMorgan Asset Management (Canada) Inc. is a registered Portfolio Manager and Exempt Market Dealer in all Canadian provinces and territories except the Yukon, and is also registered as an Investment Fund Manager in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The references to JPMF and other information about JPMF and the Strategy are not an offering of JPMF shares, but is instead being supplied to provide important information related to an investment in the Fund.

This communication is not an offering of securities for sale in the United States, and any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer and will contain detailed information about the Fund and its management, as well as financial statements. The Fund is being offered only to prospective Canadian accredited investors that are not "U.S. Persons" as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which any offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification of such securities under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

SOURCE J.P. Morgan Asset Management Canada

For more information, please contact: Monika Balbinot, Edelman Smithfield, [email protected], [phone]